Hindutvas Foreign Tie-up in the 1930s

Archival Evidence
To understand militant Hinduism, one must examine its domestic roots as well as
foreign influence. In the 1930s Hindu nationalism borrowed from European fascism to
transform different people into enemies. Leaders of militant Hinduism repeatedly
expressed their admiration for authoritarian leaders such as Mussolini and Hitler and for
the fascist model of society. This influence continues to the present day. This paper
presents archival evidence on the would-be collaborators.
MARZIA CASOLARI

F
ascist was in Sumit Sarkars words,
till the other day a mere epithet
(The Fascism of the Sangh Parivar,
Economic and Political Weekly, January
30, 1993, p 163). It has come to define
the ideology and practice of the Hindu
militant organisations. It is a common-
place, accepted by their opponents, as well
as by those who have a critical, but not
necessarily negative, view of Hindu fun-
damentalism. Defining the Rashtriya
Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) and, in gen-
eral, the organisations of militant Hindu-
ism 1 as undemocratic, with authoritarian,
paramilitary, radical, violent tendencies
and a sympathy for fascist ideology and
practice, has been a major concern for
many politically oriented scholars and
writers. This has been the case with the
literature which started with Gandhis
assassination and continues up to the
present day with works such as Amartya
Sens India at Risk (The New York Review
of Books, April 1993) and Christophe
Jaffrelots The Hindu Nationalist Move-
ment in India (Viking, New Delhi, 1996),
the latest book published on the subject,
or the well known Khaki Shorts and Saffron
Flags (Orient Longman, New Delhi, 1993),
which came out soon after the destruction
of the Babri masjid. As a result, the fascist
ideological background of Hindu funda-
mentalism is taken for granted, never
proved by systematic analysis. This is an
outcome that is, to a certain extent, ex-
plained by the fact that most of the above-
mentioned authors are political scientists
and not historians.
It is a fact that many of those who
witnessed the growth of Hindu radical
forces in the years around the second world
war were already convinced of the Sanghs
fascist outlook. Particularly acute was the
perception that the Congress had of these
organisations and their character. There
is no need to mention the already well
known opinion of Nehru, who, right
from the beginning, had pointed at these
organisations as communalist and fascist.
Less well known is the fact that, as
shown by a confidential report circulated
within the Congress most probably at the
time of the first ban of the RSS, after
Gandhis assassination, the similarity
between the character of the RSS and that
of fascist organisations was already taken
for granted. In fact, the report itself states
that the RSS
(1) ...Started in Nagpur some sort of Hindu
Boys Scout movement. Gradually it de-
veloped into a communal militarist organi-
sation with violent tendencies.
(2) The RSS has been purely Maharashtrian
brahmin organisation. The non-brahmin
Maharashtrians who constitute the bulk of
C P and Maharashtra have no sympathy
with it.
(3) Even in the other provinces the chief
organisers and whole-time workers will be
found to be inevitably Maharashtrian
brahmins.
(4) Through the RSS the Maharashtrian
brahmins have been dreaming of esta-
blishing in India a Peshwa Raj after the
withdrawal of Britishers. The RSS flag is
the Bhagwa Flag of the Peshwas
Maharashtrian rulers [who] were the last
to be conquered by the British and after
the termination of British rule in India, the
Maharashtrians should be vested with
political powers.
(5) The RSS practises secret and violent
methods which promote fascism. No
regard is paid to truthful means and con-
stitutional methods.
(6) There is no constitution of the organi-
sation; its aims and objects have never
been clearly defined. The general public
is usually told that its aim is only physical
training, but the real aims are not conveyed
even to the rank and file of the RSS mem-
bers. Only its inner circle is taken into
a confidence.
(7) There are no records or proceedings
of the RSS organisation, no membership
registers are maintained. There are also no
records of its income and the expenditure.
The RSS is thus strictly secret as regards
its organisation. It has consequently...
(National Archives of India (NAI), Sardar
Patel Correspondence, microfilm, reel
no 3, A Note on the RSS, undated).
Unfortunately the document stops abruptly
here, but it contains enough evidence of
the reputation the RSS already had by the
late 1940s.
This document, however, is by no means
exceptional. An accurate search of the
primary sources produced by the organi-
sations of Hindu nationalism, as well as
by their opponents and by the police, is
bound to show the extent and the impor-
tance of the connections between such
organisations and Italian fascism. In fact
the most important organisations of Hindu
nationalism not only adopted fascist ideas
in a conscious and deliberate way, but this
happened also because of the existence of
direct contacts between the representa-
tives of the main Hindu organisations and
fascist Italy.
To demonstrate this, I will reconstruct
the context from which arose the interest
of Hindu radicalism in Italian fascism
right from the early 1920s. This interest
was commonly shared in Maharashtra,
and must have inspired B S Moonjes trip
to Italy in 1931. The next step will be to
examine the effects of that trip, namely
how B S Moonje tried to transfer fascist
models to Hindu society and to organise
it militarily, according to fascist patterns.
An additional aim of this paper is to show
how, about the end of the 1930s, the
admiration for the Italian regime was
commonly shared by the different streams
of Hindu nationalism and the main Hindu
leaders.
Particular attention will be devoted to
the attitude adopted by the main Hindu
organisations during the second world war.
During those crucial years, Hindu nation-
alism seemed to uneasily oscillate between
a conciliatory attitude towards the British,

218 Economic and Political Weekly January 22, 2000

and a sympathy for the dictators. This is
in fact far from surprising because as
will be shown in those years, militant
Hindu organisations were preparing and
arming themselves to fight the so-called
internal enemies, rather than the British.
More generally, the aim of this paper
is to disprove Christophe Jaffrelots thesis
that there is a sharp distinction between
nazi and fascist ideology on one side and
RSS on the other as far as the concept
of race and the centrality of the leader
are concerned.2
I stated that the Italian young generation
Hindu Nationalists and
Italian Fascism
None of the works mentioned above,
Jaffrelots included, deals with what I
consider a most important problem,
namely, the existence of direct contacts
between the representatives of the fascist
regime, including Mussolini and Hindu
nationalists. These contacts demonstrate
that Hindu nationalism had much more
than an abstract interest in the ideology
and practice of fascism.
The interest of Indian Hindu national-
ists in fascism and Mussolini must not be
considered as dictated by an occasional
curiosity, confined to a few individuals,
rather, it should be considered as the
culminating result of the attention that
Hindu nationalists, especially in
Maharashtra, focused on Italian dictator-
ship and its leader. To them, fascism
appeared to be an example of conservative
revolution. This concept was discussed at
length by the Marathi press, right from the
early phase of the Italian regime.
From 1924 to 1935 Kesari regularly
published editorials and articles about Italy,
fascism and Mussolini. What impressed
the Marathi journalists was the socialist
origin of fascism and the fact that the new
regime seemed to have transformed Italy
from a backward country to a first class
power. Indians could not know, then, that,
behind the demagogic rhetoric of the
regime, there was very little substance.
Moreover, the Indian observers were
convinced that fascism had restored order
in a country previously upset by political
tensions. In a series of editorials, Kesari
described the passage from liberal govern-
ment to dictatorship as a shift from an-
archy to an orderly situation, where social
struggles had no more reason to exist.3
The Marathi newspaper gave considerable
space to the political reforms carried out
by Mussolini, in particular the substitution
of the election of the members of parlia-
ment with their nomination (ibid, January
17, 1928) and the replacement of parlia-
ment itself with the Great Council of
Fascism. Mussolinis idea was the oppo-
site of that of democracy and it was
expressed by the dictators principle,
according to which one mans govern-
ment is more useful and more binding for
the nation than the democratic institutions
(ibid, July 17, 1928).4 Is all this not remini-
scent of the principle of obedience to one
leader (ek chalak anuvartitva) followed
by the RSS?
Finally, a long article of August 13,
1929, Italy and the Young Generations,
had succeeded the old one to lead the
country. That had resulted in the fast
ascent of Italy in every field. The article
went on to describe at length the organi-
sation of the Italian society according to
fascist models. The principal reasons of
the discipline of the Italian youths were
strong religious feelings, widespread
among the population, attachment to the
family, and the respect of traditional values:
no divorce, no singles, no right to vote for
women, whose only duty was to sit at
home, by the fireplace. The article focused
then on the fascist youth organisations, the
Balilla and the Avanguardisti.
One may wonder how the Indian jour-
nalists could be so well informed about
what was going on in Italy. Very possibly,
among their sources there was a pamphlet
in English, published by an Italian editor
in 1928, entitled The Recent Laws for the
Defence of the State (copy in NAI, Foreign
and Political Department, 647G, 1927).
Emphasised, right from the beginning,
was the importance of the National Militia,
defined as the bodyguard of the revolu-
tion. The booklet continued with the des-
cription of the restrictive measures adopted
by the regime: a ban on the subversive
parties, limitations to the press, expul-
sion of disaffected persons from public
posts, and, finally, the death sentence.
Significantly, the shift from the liberal
phase to fascism is described by the pam-
phlet in strikingly similar terms to those
employed by the above-mentioned articles:
This step [the shift to fascism] has struck
a death blow to the thread-bare theories
of Italian liberalism, according to which
the sovereign state must observe strict
neutrality towards all political associa-
tions and parties. This theory explains why
in Italy the ship of state was drifting before
the wind, ready to sink in the vortex of
social dissolution or to be wrecked on the
rocks of financial disaster.
Another inspiring source of the litera-
ture published in Kesari must have been
the work by D V Tahmankar, the corre-
spondent of the Marathi newspaper from
London and admirer of the Italian dictator.
In 1927 Tahmankar published a book
entitled Muslini ani Fashismo, (Mussolini
and Fascism), a biography of the dictator,
with several references to the organisation
of the fascist state, to the fascist social
system, to the fascist ideology, and to
Italys recent past. An entire chapter, the
last, was devoted to description of fascist
society and its institutions, especially the
youth organisations.
One can easily come to the conclusion
that, by the late 1920s, the fascist regime
and Mussolini had considerable popular-
ity in Maharashtra. The aspects of fascism
which appealed most to Hindu national-
ists were, of course, both the militarisation
of society and what was seen as the real
transformation of society, exemplified by
the shift from chaos to order. The anti-
democratic system was considered as a
positive alternative to democracy which
was seen as a typically British value.
Such literature made an implicit com-
parison between fascism and the Italian
Risorgimento. The latters influence on
Indian nationalism, both moderate and
radical, is well known.5 However, whereas
the Risorgimento appealed to both moder-
ates and extremists, fascism appealed only
to the radicals, who considered it as the con-
tinuation of the Risorgimento and a phase
of the rational organisation of the state.
The first Hindu nationalist who came in
contact with the fascist regime and its
dictator was B S Moonje, a politician
strictly related to the RSS. In fact, Moonje
had been Hedgewars mentor, the two
men were related by an intimate friend-
ship. Moonjes declared intention to
strengthen the RSS and to extend it as a
nationwide organisation is well known.
Between February and March 1931, on his
return from the round table conference,
Moonje made a tour of Europe, which
included a long stop-over in Italy. There
he visited some important military schools
and educational institutions. The high-
light of the visit was the meeting with
Mussolini. An interesting account of the
trip and the meeting is given in Moonjes
diary, and takes 13 pages (Nehru Memo-
rial Museum and Library (NMML),
Moonje papers, microfilm, rn 1).6
The Indian leader was in Rome during
March 15 to 24, 1931. On March 19, in
Rome, he visited, among others, the
Military College, the Central Military
School of Physical Education, the Fascist
Academy of Physical Education, and, most
important, the Balilla and Avanguardisti
organisations. These two organisations,
which he describes in more than two pages

Economic and Political Weekly January 22, 2000 219

of his diary, were the keystone of the
fascist system of indoctrination rather
than education of the youths. Their struc-
ture is strikingly similar to that of the RSS.
They recruited boys from the age of six,
up to 18: the youths had to attend weekly
meetings, where they practised physical
exercises, received paramilitary training
and performed drills and parades.
According to the literature promoted by
the RSS and other Hindu fundamentalist
organisations and parties, the structure of
the RSS was the result of Hedgewars
vision and work. However Moonje played
a crucial role in moulding the RSS along
Italian (fascist) lines. The deep impression
left on Moonje by the vision of the fascist
organisation is confirmed by his diary:
The Balilla institutions and the conception
of the whole organisation have appealed
to me most, though there is still not dis-
cipline and organisation of high order.
The whole idea is conceived by Mussolini
for the military regeneration of Italy. Ital-
ians, by nature, appear ease-loving and
non-martial like the Indians generally. They
have cultivated, like Indians, the work of
peace and neglected the cultivation of the
art of war. Mussolini saw the essential
weakness of his country and conceived the
idea of the Balilla organisation...Nothing
better could have been conceived for the
military organisation of Italy...The idea of
fascism vividly brings out the conception
of unity amongst people...India and par-
ticularly Hindu India need some such
institution for the military regeneration of
the Hindus: so that the artificial distinction
so much emphasised by the British of
martial and non-martial classes amongst
the Hindus may disappear. Our institution
of Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh of
Nagpur under Dr Hedgewar is of this kind,
though quite independently conceived. I
will spend the rest of my life in developing
and extending this Institution of Dr
Hedgewar all throughout the Maharashtra
and other provinces.
He continues describing drills and uniforms:
I was charmed to see boys and girls well
dressed in their naval and military uni-
forms undergoing simple exercises of
physical training and forms of drill.
Definitely more meaningful is the report
of the meeting with Mussolini. On the
same day, March 19, 1931 at 3 pm, in
Palazzo Venezia, the headquarters of the
fascist government, he met the Italian
dictator. The meeting is recorded in the
diary on March 20, and it is worth repro-
ducing the complete report.
...As soon as I was announced at the door,
he got up and walked up to receive me.
220
I shook hands with him saying that I am
Dr Moonje. He knew everything about me
and appeared to be closely following the
events of the Indian struggle for freedom.
He seemed to have great respect for Gandhi.
He sat down in front of me on another chair
in front of his table and was conversing
with me for quite half an hour. He asked
me about Gandhi and his movement and
pointedly asked me a question If the
Round Table Conference will bring about
peace between India and England. I said
that if the British would honestly desire
declared intention to strengthen the RSS
to give us equal status with other domin-
ions of the Empire, we shall have no
objection to remain peacefully and loyally
within the Empire; otherwise the struggle
will be renewed and continued. Britain
will gain and be able to maintain her premier
position amongst the European Nation
(sic) if India is friendly and peaceful
towards her and India cannot be so unless
she is given Dominion Status on equal
terms with other Dominions. Signor
Mussolini appeared impressed by this
remark of mine. Then he asked me if I have
visited the University. I said I am inter-
ested in the military training of boys and
have been visiting the Military Schools of
England, France and Germany. I have now
come to Italy for the same purpose and
I am very grateful to say that the Foreign
Office and the War Office have made good
arrangements for my visiting these schools.
I just saw this morning and afternoon the
Balilla and the Fascist Organisations and
I was much impressed. Italy needs them
for her development and prosperity. I do
not see anything objectionable though I
have been frequently reading in the news-
papers not very friendly criticisms about
them and about your Excellency also.
Signor Mussolini: What is your opinion
about them?
Dr Moonje: Your Excellency, I am much
impressed. Every aspiring and growing
Nation needs such organisations. India
needs them most for her military regen-
eration. During the British Domination of
the last 150 years Indians have been waved
away from the military profession but India
now desires to prepare herself for under-
taking the responsibility for her own
defence and I am working for it. I have
already started an organisation of my own,
conceived independently with similar
objectives. I shall have no hesitation to
raise my voice from the public platform
both in India and England when occasion
may arise in praise of your Balilla and
Fascist organisations. I wish them good
luck and every success.
Signor Mussolini who appeared very
pleased said Thanks but yours is an
uphill task. However I wish you every
success in return.
Economic and Political Weekly
Saying this he got up and I also got up
to take his leave.
The description of the Italian journey
includes information regarding fascism,
its history, the fascist revolution, etc,
and continues for two more pages.
One can wonder at the association
between B S Moonje and the RSS, but if
we think that Moonje had been Hedgewars
mentor, the association will be much
clearer.7 The intimate friendship between
Moonje and Hedgewar and the formers
and to extend it as a nationwide organi-
sation prove a strict connection between
Moonje and the RSS. Moreover, it makes
sense to think that the entire circle of
militant Hinduism must have been influ-
enced by Moonjes Italian experience.
II
Moonjes Plans for
Militarising Hindus
Once Moonje was back in India, he kept
the promise made in his diary and started
immediately to work for the foundation
of his military school and for the militant
reorganisation of Hindu society in
Maharashtra. He really did not waste time,
for, as soon as he reached Pune, he gave
an interview to The Mahratta.8 Regarding
the military reorganisation of the Hindu
community, he stressed the necessity to
indianise the army and expressed the
hope that conscription would become
compulsory and an Indian would be put
in charge of the defence ministry. He finally
made a clear reference to the Italian and
German examples:
In fact, leaders should imitate the youth
movement of Germany and the Balilla and
Fascist organisations of Italy. I think they
are eminently suited for introduction in India,
adapting them to suit the special conditions.
I have been very much impressed by these
movements and I have seen their activities
with my own eyes in all details.
Soon fascism became a subject of public
debate and Hedgewar himself was among
the promoters of a campaign in favour of
the militarisation of society, according to
fascist patterns. On January 31, 1934,
Hedgewar presided over a conference
about fascism and Mussolini, organised
by Kavde Shastri. Moonje made the con-
cluding speech (NMML, Moonje papers,
microfilm, Diary, rn 2, 1932-36).
A few months later, on March 31, 1934
Moonje, Hedgewar and Laloo Gokhale
had a meeting, the subject of which was
again the military organisation of the
Hindus, along Italian and German lines:
January 22, 2000
 Laloo Well you are the president of the
Hindu Sabha and you are preaching
Sanghathan of Hindus. It is ever possible
for Hindus to be organised?
I said You have asked me a question of
which exactly I was thinking of late. I have
thought out a scheme based on Hindu
Dharm Shastra which provides for
standardisation of Hinduism throughout
India...But the point is that this ideal cannot
be brought to effect unless we have our
own swaraj with a Hindu as a dictator like
Shivaji of old or Mussolini or Hitler of
the present day in Italy and Germany...But
this does not mean that we have to sit with
folded hands untill (sic) some such dic-
tator arises in India. We should formulate
a scientific scheme and carry on propa-
ganda for it (NMML, ibid).
The intimate connection between
Moonje and the RSS and the fascist
character of the latter is confirmed by
British sources. An Intelligence report
published in 1933 and entitled Note on
the Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh,
ascribed to Moonje the responsibility of
the reorganisation of the Sangh in the
Marathi speaking districts and in the
Central Provinces in 1927. The report,
describing the activity and the character
of the RSS, warned that
It is perhaps no exaggeration to assert that
the Sangh hopes to be in future India what
the Fascisti are to Italy and the Nazis
to Germany (NAI, Home Poll Depart-
ment, 88/33, 1933).
Summing up, contrary to Jaffrelots inter-
pretation, it is clear that the Hindu nation-
alists were very much attracted by the
figure of a strong leader. Moreover, they
were keen to give their organisation a
strongly centralised structure.
Moonjes trip to Italy, contrary to what
happened in the case of Subhas Chandra
Bose and other nationalists, did not give
place to any further co-operation between
Hindu nationalism and the fascist regime.
However, these contacts were important
at the ideological and organisational lev-
els. In fact, Moonje kept his promise to
improve military education in India and, as
soon as he came back from his European
trip, he started to contact all those who
could support his idea of militarising Hindu
society. In 1934, Moonje started to work
for the foundation of his own institution,
the Bhonsla Military School.9 For this
purpose, in the same year he began to work
at the foundation of the Central Hindu
Military Education Society, whose aim was
to bring about military regeneration of the
Hindus and to fit Hindu youths for under-
taking the entire responsibility for the
defence of their motherland.
Economic and Political Weekly January 22, 2000
to educate them in the Sanatan Dharma,
and to train them in the science and art
of personal and national defence (NMML,
Moonje papers, subject files, n 24, 1932-36,
The Central Military Education Society,
undated, probably written in 1935).
Moonjes programme was therefore en-
tirely devoted to Hindu society, and not
to Indian society as a whole.
It is possible that the other function of
the society was that of facilitating the
diffusion of military education and sup-
porting the foundation of new schools.
During the preliminary work for the found-
ation of both the school and society,
Moonje publicly admitted that his idea of
militarily reorganising Hindu society was
inspired by the military training schools
of England, France, Germany and Italy
(NMML, Moonje papers, subject files,
n 23, 1934-36, report of the progress of
the work of the society from January 1,
1935 to August 15, 1936). Moreover, there
is an explicit reference to fascist Italy and
nazi Germany in a document that Moonje
circulated among those influential person-
alities who were expected to support the
foundation of the school (NMML, Moonje
papers, subject files, n 25, 1935, Preface
to the Scheme of the Central Hindu Mili-
tary Society and Its Military School). It
said at the outset:
This training is meant for qualifying and
fitting our boys for the game of killing
masses of men with the ambition of win-
ning victory with the best possible casual-
ties (sic) of dead and wounded while caus-
ing the utmost possible to the adversary.
Moonje does not give any clear-cut
indication regarding this adversary,
whether it was the external enemy, the
British, or the historical internal enemy,
the Muslims. The document continues
with a long dissertation on the relation
between violence and non-violence. In it
are drawn many examples from Indian
history and Hindu holy books, all in favour
of organised violence, in the form of
militarism. On the contrary, non-violence
is considered a form of renunciation and
cowardice.
Moonjes views corresponded almost
perfectly with Mussolinis opinions:
...The same thought is repeated though in
a more forceful and direct language by
Signor Mussolini, the maker of modern
Italy. When he says: Our desire for peace
and collaboration with Europe is based on
millions of steel bayonets.
And again, from Mussolinis Doctrine
of Fascism,
I absolutely disbelieve in perpetual peace
which is detrimental and negative to the
fundamental virtues of man, which only
by struggle reveal themselves in the light
of the sun,
War alone brings up to its highest tension
all human energy and puts the stamp of
nobility upon the peoples who have the
courage to meet it,
Fascism believes neither in the possibility
nor the utility of perpetual peace. It thus
repudiates the doctrine of pacifism which
is born of renunciation of the struggle and
an act of cowardice in the face of sacrifice.
Moonje added that these considerations
did not aim at the legitimation of a climate
of civil war. Contrary to the Indian situ-
ation, where the British were responsible
for the maintenance of public order, peace
should rise from the self-defence of a
militarily organised nation. Italy and
Germany could offer a further example:
His Majesty, the King of Italy, says: Italy
wants the longest possible period of peace
but the greatest guarantee for a peace is
the efficiency of the Italian armed forces.
The government was striving to augment
the efficiency of forces, which depends
upon the cadres, materials and the unity
of command. Efforts must be made to
improve the physique of the Italian youths
and their preliminary training in order to
raise the level of soldierly efficiency.
As far as Germany was concerned,
Moonje quoted a booklet entitled
Wehrwissenschaft (Military Science),
written by Ewald Banse, a professor at the
Brunswick Technical High School:
The starting point of the book is that war
is inevitable and certain and that it is
imperative to know as much about it and
to be as efficient as possible ... the mind
of the nation, from childhood on must be
impregnated and familiarised with the idea
of war, because, the Professor says: The
dying warrior dies more easily when he
knows that his blood is ebbing for his
national god.
The spirit of the last sentence is surpris-
ingly coincident with the essence of the
Hindu nationalism.
When Moonje had to indicate practical
ways of militarising Hindu society, he
returned again to the example of Italy and
its military and paramilitary organisations,
and reported what he had seen. He de-
scribed in detail the structure of the She
Wolfs Children, the Balilla and the
Avanguardisti. He asserted that these
organisations could provide paramilitary
training to the male population from the
age of 8 up to 18, when the youth became
young fascists. Italy was therefore in a
position of having command of 6,000,000
trained and disciplined men ready to face
any emergency.
221
The result was that
The Balillas are taught to build up moral
character and take the first steps towards
becoming soldiers.
As a consequence,
There will thus be no longer any dis-
tinction between the citizen and the
soldier between the civilian and the man
in uniform.
Of course, nowadays we know that, in
spite of this remarkable number of mili-
tarily trained citizens, Italy lost the war:
Moonje did not know that the level of the
training was low, the cohesion between
people poor, and the fascist faith of the
people skin-deep.
Fascist ideas were widespread among
Hindu nationalists, at least in Maharashtra.
The above-mentioned script had been
printed in the form of a pamphlet (copy
in NAI, Jayakar papers, microfilm, fn6,
rn2) and distributed not only among the
people Moonje tried to involve in his
project, but, most probably, to an even
wider public. Fascism therefore, had a
certain popularity, which, unfortunately,
is at present difficult to measure.
III
Eve of Second World War
After Moonjes trip to Italy there was
no further direct contact between expo-
nents of the main Hindu organisations and
the Italian government. However, by the
end of the 1930s Italian representatives in
India established some connections with
the extremist fringes of Hindu national-
ism. The Italian consulate in Bombay was
very active in seeking contacts with the
local political milieu. The Italian diplo-
matic mission in Bombay was part of a
network linking the Italian consulates in
Bombay and Calcutta with the radical
movements of Maharashtra and Bengal
(authors PhD thesis, pp 276-79).
From June 1938 the consulate in Bombay
started to recruit as many Indian students
as possible for Italian language courses,
with the purpose of indoctrinating them
with propaganda in favour of Italy and
fascism. The person in charge of this
activity was Mario Carelli, sent from Rome
with the specific purpose of organising
and managing the Italian activities in
Bombay. Mario Carelli was secretary and
librarian at the Institute for Middle and Far
East (ISMEO), founded in Rome in 1933
under the auspices of the Italian govern-
ment, and presided by Giovanni Gentile.10
Among the students, one Madhav
Kashinath Damley was particularly promis-
ing. Following Carellis suggestion, Damley
translated into Marathi Mussolinis Doc-
222
trine of Fascism and, in summer 1939,
published it as a series of articles in a
weekly he founded in June of the same
year. The name of the magazine was
Lokhandi Morcha (Iron Front). It pub-
lished also, as a five parts article, a booklet
by Antonio Pagliaro entitled II Fascismo
contro il comunismo (Fascism against
Communism) and an article by Mario
Carelli entitled The Institution of the
House of the Fasci and Corporations.11
In the autumn of 1939, a particularly
radical article published in the Lokhandi
Morcha attracted the attention of the police.
The result was that Damley, who had
already been noticed by the agents, was
forced to suspend the magazine and pay
a fine. The refusal to pay determined
the cessation of the publication of the
Lokhandi Morcha. Damley was a chitpavan
brahmin from Pune, resident in Bombay.
His father owned the printing house where
the magazine was printed. According to
the police,
He [Damley] holds extreme political views
and believes himself to be a follower of
B G Tilak...He openly says that he is
enamoured of the history of Italy and Nazi
Germany (MSA, Home Special Depart-
ment, 830(I)1939, note dated July 11, 1939).
Even more meaningful is Damleys descri-
ption by the Italian consul:
Holding fascist ideas, he founded an
organisation called Iron Guards, modelled
on ours, but adapted to Indian peculiar
conditions.
He and his friends wore the black shirt:
Indias first black shirts.
The development of this organisation was
compromised by the outbreak of the war.12
The influence of fascist ideology and
practice must have gone far beyond the
limits of the main organisations of Hindu
militant nationalism and must have ex-
tended to the wide and intricate net of
secondary militant groups and centres of
physical education or paramilitary train-
ing. This is shown by the example of the
Swastik League, founded on March 10,
1929 by M R Jayakar who became its
president and by other local personali-
ties. In organising the Swastik League,
Jayakar, who had a prominent position
within the Hindu Mahasabha, drew some
inspiration from the fascist paramilitary
organisations. In his own words,
in the near future, our GOC... intends to
form a cadet corps, consisting of boys
between the age of 15 and 18 years. The
training which these cadets will receive
will ultimately enable them to join the
Leagues volunteer corps...
This reminds us of a picture published in
Economic and Political Weekly
the Sunday Chronicle on the 28th instant,
showing two of Sgr Mussolinis Baby
Soldiers remaining on sentry duty at the
entrance of their annual encampment at
Camp Dux, where the young members of
the Avan Guardista, (sic) a youth organi-
sation of Italy for boys from 14 to 18 years
of age, get first hand acquaintance with
the tools of war. Neither we nor our cadets
can expect to be able to get such a direct
training, but all the same, the efforts to
train a boy in military discipline will never
be wasted and will in course of time make
that boy an ideal volunteer (NAI, Jayakar
papers, microfilm, rn 13, Swastik Herald,
of November 7, 1934).
In 1940, when nazism manifested its
real nature and the swastika became an
inauspicious symbol, the organisation felt
obliged to dissociate from nazism:
Hitler discriminates between Aryans and
non-Aryans, between Germans and Jews.
The League, though it is a purely Hindu
organisation, does not make a difference
between the Hindus and the non-Hindus...
Hitler has many enemies, the League cannot
have any. He is revengeful; the League is
forgiving and tolerant. He is violent and
wild; the League is not. He thinks and acts
in terms of destruction. He has destroyed
many families, many nations: nay, the peace
of the world. Armed to teeth he is running
amuck. The League stands for construc-
tion. He is an enemy of humanity. The
League is a saviour of humanity. It has
saved thousands of human lives. Its am-
bulance is most efficient (NAI, ibid, Article
entitled Hitler and the Swastik League
in Swastik Herald, July-August 1940).
IV
Savarkar and Nazism
At this point we have to dwell on the
crucial problem of Savarkars position
vis-a-vis the European radical right.
With Savarkars coming on the political
scene, from the late 1930s to the second
world war, there was the attempt, even if
timid and unsuccessful, to search for new
contacts with the totalitarian regimes. At
the same time, there was an intensification
of cries in favour or in defence of Italian
and German policy, even if the preference
for Germany increased progressively.
Savarkar was declared president of the
Hindu Mahasabha as soon as he was
released in 1937, and he held that office
until 1942. His presidentship covered the
most sensitive period of both Indian and
international history in this century. Ac-
cording to the commonly accepted opin-
ion supported by the organisations of
militant Hinduism the RSS and the Hindu
Mahasabha have never been particularly
January 22, 2000
close, and, during Savarkars president-
ship, they severed their links. Reality,
however, seems to be different. In fact, the
available documentation shows not only
that such a split never happened, but that
the two organisations always had close
connections. We should not forget that
Hedgewar had been secretary to the Hindu
Mahasabha from 1926 to 1931 (NAI, Home
Poll Department, August 28, 1942; intel-
ligence report Rashtriya Swayam Sewak
Sangh, dated March 7, 1942).13 The RSS
seems to have provided support to the
Hindu Mahasabha, as shown by the fact
that groups of RSS militants used to gather
at the public meetings organised to cele-
brate Savarkars release.14
Two of the main topics of the speeches
Savarkar gave at the gatherings organised
in his honour and at any other public
function of his party were the international
situation and Hindu-Muslim relations.
Regarding the first aspect, Savarkar had
a rather cynical view of the relations India
should entertain at the international level.
He returned to freedom and entered into
politics at the time of the formation of the
Rome-Berlin Axis and Japans adhesion
to the pact. Such an outcome was favour-
ably assessed by Hindu radical national-
ism, including the Hindu Mahasabha.
Indias foreign policy was the subject
of a speech Savarkar gave to about 20,000
people in Pune on August 1, 1938. The
following are the most meaningful parts
of the speech, according to a press
note issued by the Bombay office of the
Hindu Mahasabha:15
He observed Indias foreign policy must
not depend on isms. Germany has every
right to resort to Nazism and Italy to
Fascism and events have justified that
those isms and forms of governments were
imperative and beneficial to them under
the conditions that obtained there. Bolshe-
vism might have suited Russia and Demo-
cracy as it is obtained in Briton (sic) to
the British people.
Political systems correspond then to the
nature of the respective population. This
theory was clearly inspired by a deterministic
conception of race, similar to the concep-
tion of race then dominant in Europe.
Starting a controversy with Nehru,
Savarkar openly defended the authoritar-
ian powers of the day, particularly Italy
and, even more so, Germany:
Who are we to dictate to Germany, Japan
or Russia or Italy to choose a particular
form of policy of government simply
because we woo it out of academical
attraction? Surely Hitler knows better than
Pandit Nehru does what suits Germany
Economic and Political Weekly January 22, 2000
best. The very fact that Germany or Italy
has so wonderfully recovered and grown
so powerful as never before at the touch
of Nazi or Fascist magical wand is enough
to prove that those political isms were
the most congenial tonics their health
demanded.
India may choose or reject particular form
of government, in accordance with her
political requirements. But Pandit went
out of his way when he took sides in the
name of all Indians against Germany or
Italy. Pandit Nehru might claim to express
the Congress section in India at the most.
But it should be made clear to the German,
Italian, or Japanese public that crores of
Hindu Sanghatanists in India whom nei-
ther Pandit Nehru nor the Congress rep-
resents, cherish no ill-will towards Ger-
many or Italy or Japan or any other country
in the world simply because they had chosen
a form of government or constitutional
policy which they though (sic) suited best
and contributed most to their national
solidarity and strength.
Savarkar went on to defend Germanys
position regarding the Sudeten problem:
...as far as the Czechoslovakia question
was concerned the Hindu Sanghatanists in
India hold that Germany was perfectly
justified in uniting the Austrian and Sudeten
Germans under the German flag. Democ-
racy itself demanded that the will of the
people must prevail in choosing their own
government. Germany demanded plebi-
scite, the Germans under the Czechs wanted
to join their kith and kin in Germany. It
was the Czechs who were acting against
the principle of democracy in holding the
Germans under a foreign sway against their
will...Now that Germany is strong why
should she not strike to unite all Germans
and consolidate them into a Pan-German
state and realise the political dream which
generations of German people cherished.
When the outbreak of the second world
war was imminent, Savarkar openly de-
clared the attitude Hindu Mahasabha
should adopt towards the other nations:
Any nation who helps India or is friendly
towards her struggle for freedom is our
friend. Any Nation which opposes us or
pursues a policy inimical to us is our foe.
Towards those who do neither, India must
maintain an attitude of perfect neutrality
refusing to poke her nose unnecessarily
into their internal or external policy.
This document summarises Savarkars
view regarding international problems and,
at the same time, it contains the future
lines of the Hindu Mahasabha foreign
policy. This party elaborated its foreign
policy only with Savarkars presidentship,
imitating, in a certain sense, what Nehru
did within the Congress, but choosing
different allies among the foreign powers.
Given the content of the above-mentioned
speech, it is no wonder that it was published
on November 30, 1938 by a famous
German daily, the Volkischer Beobachter
(NMML, Savarkar papers, microfilm, rn 1
part 2, March 1937-May 1938).
The reference to the German minorities
in Czechoslovakia was an implicit com-
parison with the Indian situation. As
Savarkar asserted in a speech in the pres-
ence of some 4,000 people at Pune on
October 11, 1938, if a plebiscite had taken
place in India, Muslims would have cho-
sen to unite with Muslims and Hindus
with Hindus. This was a consequence of
the principle according to which it was not
enough living together for a few centuries
to form a nation, as The common desire
to form a nation was essential for the
formation of a nation (MSA, Home
Special Department, 60D(g) Pt II, 1937,
Extract from the weekly confidential
report of the District Magistrate, dated the
October 21, 1938).
During Savarkars presidentship the anti-
Muslim rhetoric became more and more
radical, and distinctly unpleasant. It was
a rhetoric that made continuous reference
to the way Germany was managing the
Jewish question. Indeed, speech after
speech, Savarkar supported Hitlers anti-
Jewish policy, and, on October 14, 1938,
he suggested the following solution for
the Muslim problem in India:
A Nation is formed by a majority living
therein. What did the Jews do in Germany?
They being in minority were driven out
from Germany (MSA, Home Special
Department, 60 D(g) Pt III, 1938, Trans-
lation of the verbatim speech made by
V D Savarkar at Malegaon on October 14,
1938).
Then, towards the end of the year in
Thane, in front of RSS militants and local
sympathisers, right at the time when the
Congress expressed its resolution against
Germany,16 Savarkar stated that
in Germany the movement of the Germans
is the national movement but that of the
Jews is a communal one (MSA, Home
Special Department, 60 D(g) Pt III, 1938,
A report on the meeting held on Decem-
ber 11, 1938).
And again the next year, on July 29, in
Pune, he said:
Nationality did not depend so much on a
common geographical area as on unity of
thought, religion, language and culture.
For this reason the Germans and the Jews
could not be regarded as a nation (MSA,
ibid, Extract from the BP weekly letter
n 31, dated August 5, 1939).
223
 Without this unity, not even Muslims
and Hindus could be regarded as belong-
ing to the same nation. Indian Muslims
should rather resign themselves to be
considered as a minority, the recognition
of whose rights should depend on the
magnanimity of the majority.
Finally, at the end of 1939, on the
occasion of the 21st session of the Hindu
Mahasabha, Savarkar made one of the
most explicit comparisons between the
Muslim question in India and the Jewish
problem in Germany:
...the Indian Muslims are on the whole
more inclined to identify themselves and
their interests with Muslims outside India
than Hindus who live next door, like Jews
in Germany.17
One can find a certain continuity be-
tween the ideas of nation and nationhood
expressed in Savarkars Hindutva18 and
the content of these declarations. Indeed
in his book, Savarkar, referring to the
Muslims, asserted that
their holyland is far off in Arabia or
Palestine. Their mythology and godmen,
ideas and heroes are not the children of
this soil. Consequently their names and
their outlook smack of foreign origin
(Hindutva: Who is a Hindu?, 4th ed, Bharat
Mudranalaya, Pune, 1949, p 94).
A feeling of admiration for the Jewish
policy of Germany seems to have been
shared by the entire circle of Hindu na-
tionalism at the end of the 1930s. In We,
or Our Nationhood Defined, Golwarkar,
who would have become general secretary
of the RSS a year later, declared that
German national pride has now become the
topic of the day. To keep up the purity of
the nation and its culture, Germany shocked
the world by her purging the country of the
semitic races the Jews. National pride at
its highest has been manifested here.
Germany has also shown how well-nigh
impossible it is for races and cultures, having
differences going to the mot [?], to be
assimilated into one united whole, a good
lesson for us in Hindustan to learn and profit
by (Nagpur, 1939, p 37).
This had its roots in the idea that being
a Hindu was a matter of race and blood,
not only a matter of culture. In turn that
was an idea which was strikingly similar
to the racial myths elaborated in Germany,
more than in Italy.
As demonstrated by Jaffrelot (op cot,
pp 53-54), Golwarkar drew his idea of nation
and nationalism from the works of a
German lawyer, Johann Kaspar Bluntschli.
Golwarkars position regarding Muslims
was even more extreme than Savarkars:
in one word, they [Muslims] must cease
to be foreigners19 or may stay in the country
224
wholly subordinated to the Hindu nation
claiming nothing, deserving no privileges,
far less any preferential treatment, not
even citizens rights (op cit, p 52).
Apart from the militants of the main
Hindu organisations, there is reason to
think that the Indian and particularly
Marathi public opinion also was ex-
posed to the views of some newspapers
which echoed Savarkars declarations20
or published articles in favour of the
dictators. In 1939 The Mahratta published
a series of articles in favour of the inter-
national policy of Italy and Germany,21
while Kesari of December 8 and 15, 1939
published an article bearing the title Fail-
ure of Democracy and Rise of Fascism.
There the same interpretation already ex-
pressed during the 1920s was repeated,
according to which fascism arose from the
crisis of democracy. Fascism of obviously
considered superior to democracy.
While this literature still focused on
both the dictators and their policies, al-
ready from the Spring of 1939 the Savarkar-
led Hindu Mahasabha seemed to have
finally chosen Germany as its main ref-
erence point at the international level. On
March 25, 1939 the Hindu party made the
following statement:
Germanys solemn idea of the revival of
the Aryan culture, the glorification of the
Swastika, her patronage of Vedic learning
and the ardent championship of the tra-
dition of Indo-Germanic civilisation are
welcomed by the religious and sensible
Hindus of India with a jubilant hope. Only
a few socialists headed by Pandit J Nehru
have created a bubble of resentment against
the present government of Germany, but
their activities are far from having any signi-
ficance in India. The vain imprecations of
Mahatma Gandhi against Germanys in-
dispensable vigour in matters of internal
policy obtain but little regard insofar as
they are uttered by a man who has always
betrayed and confused the country with an
affected mysticism. I think that Germanys
crusade against the enemies of Aryan
culture will bring all the Aryan nations
of the world to their senses and awaken
the Indian Hindus for the restoration of
their lost glory (The declaration contained
in Auswartiges Amt-Politischen Archiv
(AA-PA, Bonn)/Pol VII, statement by the
spokesman of the Hindu Mahasabha,
March 25, 1939, is quoted by M Hauner,
op cit, p 66).
The aggressive racial policy carried out by
Germany must have played a fundamental
role in this shift of interest from Italy to
Germany.
At the practical level, this shift was
represented by the attempt made by
Savarkar to get in touch with other Hindu
Economic and Political Weekly
nationalist forces working abroad.
Throughout 1938 Savarkar had a consider-
able exchange of letters with one of the
historical leaders of the revolutionary
movement abroad: Rash Behari Bose. (On
Rash Behari Bose see Uma Mukherjee,
Two Great Indian Revolutionaries, Firma
KLM, Calcutta, 1966). Rash Behari, who
had lived in Japan since 1915 and had
obtained Japanese nationality in 1923,
was in touch with the Japanese extreme
right, in particular with the Association
of the Black Dragon (ASMAE, AP,
Giappone (Japan), b 6, 1934, b Movimento
Panasiatico (Pan-Asiatic Movement),
express telegram n 166/113, from
Italian Embassy, Tokyo, February 24,
1934, to the Ministry of External Affairs,
signed Auriti).
According to our sources, Savarkar and
Rash Behari were in touch at least from
March 1938. A couple of letters from Rash
Behari to the president of the Hindu
Mahasabha were published by The
Mahratta, for propaganda purposes.22 The
expected effect of the publication of the
two letters was that
All Hindu Sanghatanists in India find
themselves strengthened in their views
and activities to see you advocating the
cause of Hindu Sanghatan and taking up
such a far seeing and insighted a view of
the Indian situation political and social
(NMML, ibid, August 18).
In the summer of 1938 Rash Behari
informed Savarkar of his intention to open
a branch of the Hindu Mahasabha in Japan.
Even if the number of the militants was
small, it could nevertheless become
an authorised international mouth piece
of the Hindu Mahasabha and Hindudom
as such in Eastern foreign countries
(NMML, ibid).
Savarkars reply was favourable: the
president of the Hindu Mahasabha invited
Rash Behari to realise his objective as
soon as possible, and advised him that the
Japanese branch of the party should de-
pend upon the main office in India (NMML,
ibid, letter from Savarkar to Rash Behari
Bose, November 14, 1938, signed Presi-
dent Hindu Maha Sabha).
In winter the closeness between the two
leaders was such that Savarkar asked Rash
Behari to send a message to the Hindu
Mahasabha session of December 28
(NMML, ibid).
The contacts that Savarkar tried to es-
tablish with the consulates of the axis
powers in Bombay did not bring any
noticeable result. Most probably this
happened because the outbreak of the war
made collaboration with foreign powers
much more difficult.
January 22, 2000
 The only result of these contacts which
could materialise only through the German
consulate was, most probably, the circula-
tion of the already mentioned speech of
Savarkar in the German newspapers,23 in
exchange for articles in favour of Germanys
Jewish policy in the Marathi newspapers.24
The person in charge of contacting the axis
representatives was Jugalikishor Birla
(NMML, ibid, letter from Savarkar to
Birla, November 2, 1938, signed by hand
VDS), while the two Germans in charge
of dealing with the Hindu Mahasabha
were G L Lesczczynski, representative of
the German News Agency, and P Pazze,
officially manager of a company located
in Bombay. These two agents had
been responsible for the publication of
Savarkars speech in the Volkischer
Beobachter (NMML, ibid, letter from the
secretary of the Hindu Mahasabha to Pazze,
November 19, 1938, and, with the same
date, letter from Leszczynski to Malekar).
The most evident sign of these contacts
was the despatch of a copy of Mein Kampf
from Leszczynski to Savarkar.
V and was given several years after the event.
Waiting for the Right Enemy
The literature promoted by militant
Hinduism is trying nowadays to compare
the attitude adopted by the Hindu
Mahasabha towards the totalitarian regimes
with Subhas Chandra Boses position
towards the axis powers. According to this
literature, the evidence in favour of such
interpretation is a meeting which took
place between Bose and Savarkar in
Bombay in June 1940.25 On this occasion
Savarkar is supposed to have suggested
to Subhas that he should go to Europe and
seek the dictators support. Whereas the
authors connected to the above-mentioned
school of thought consider this claim a
matter of fact, I could not find any record
of the talks between the two leaders.
According to a short article in the Times
of India of June 24,
Mr Bose had also talks with Mr V D
Savarkar, president of the All India Hindu
Mahasabha, at the latters residence at
Dadar on Saturday evening. It is under-
stood that the discussions related to
the present political situation in the
country and the steps the Hindu Maha-
sabha and the Forward Bloc should take
in co-operation with other parties. The
results of the talks, it is stated, were not
encouraging.
The episode, as always, did not go un-
noticed by the police, who gave a brief
account of it:
Subhas Chandra Bose arrived in Bombay
on June 22nd and had discussions with
Economic and Political Weekly January 22, 2000
M A Jinnah and V D Savarkar with a view
of exploring the possibilities of co-opera-
tion between the Forward Bloc and the
Hindu Mahasabha respectively. Boses
efforts were apparently productive of
no result. The Bombay Forward Bloc
endeavoured to arrange a meeting on June
23rd at which Subhas Chandra Bose would
speak, but it was necessary to abandon
the meeting on account of lack of sup-
port (MSA, Home Special Department,
1023, 1939-40, SA dated June 29, 1940,
Forward Bloc).
The absence of accounts by the Hindu
Mahasabha on the meeting can be ex-
plained by the fact that, both the leaders
being involved in anti-British activities,
it would not make sense leaving records
of sensitive matters. Not even among
Boses papers and writings is there any
reference to the meeting. It is therefore
impossible to reconstruct the content of
the talks between the two leaders, unless
we trust the only source available. This
is the speech made by Savarkar on the
occasion of the dissolution of the Abhinav
Bharat in 1952. It is weak evidence, because
it is not supported by any written proof,
My impression of the episode is that it
is a sort of historiographic invention,
directed to legitimise the otherwise am-
biguous position of the Hindu Mahasabha
during the war. Asserting that Netajis
project had Savarkars sanction means not
only that Savarkar had a sort of patronage
on Boses activities in Europe, but, more
important, that Savarkar played an impor-
tant role in the freedom fight.
Certainly the meeting did take place,
and very possibly the two leaders dis-
cussed Boses intention to go to Europe
and seek the support of the axis powers.
However, all this is far from meaning that
Savarkar inspired Bose, who, right from
1933, had his own connections with the
dictators governments. The president of
the Hindu Mahasabha put forward his
claim on the content of his meeting with
Netaji four years after Gandhis assassi-
nation, when the image of the Hindu
Mahasabha and its affiliations were badly
damaged by the suspicion of their involve-
ment in the murder. Accordingly it makes
sense to think that the organisations of
militant Hinduism must have perceived
the necessity to rehabilitate their political
past and re-invent a more clear-cut anti-
British stand. What stronger argument,
therefore, could be available than the
assertion that the Hindu Mahasabha was
secretly ready to support Boses plans?
The involvement in Gandhis assassina-
tion was not the only reason of crisis: the
image of Hindu nationalism was indeed
already damaged by the ambiguous atti-
tude adopted in the war period. The policy
actually followed by Hindu nationalism
during the war, namely, responsive co-
operation, was far from being unambigu-
ous on both transfer of powers and rela-
tions with the British. In fact, the ambiva-
lence of responsive co-operation was made
explicit by Savarkar himself in a 1942
presidential speech. On that occasion
Savarkar stated that: the policy of respon-
sive co-operation...covers the whole gamut
of patriotic activities from unconditional
co-operation to active and even armed resis-
tance... (L G Khare (ed), Hindu Rashtra
Darshan, Bombay, 1949, p 266). It comes
as no surprise that this ambiguous stand
raised almost universal suspicion towards
the forces of militant Hinduism and
invited the charge of collaborationism.26
Immediately after the outbreak of the
war, the Hindu Mahasabha decided
that its working committee of September
10, 1939 should adopt the following line
of conduct:
no reference should be made to the justice
or otherwise of the claim of residents of
Danzig to return to the Reich; for, in
principle we shall have to support the
action of the Germans of Danzig; not
that we should denounce this but then
under no circumstances can we take part
in this war on the side of British
(NMML, Savarkar papers, microfilm, rn
12, cit, letter from Mandlekar to Savarkar,
September 7, 1939).
The working committee of September 10
decided which steps should be taken in
order to prepare the nation to face the
emergency provoked by the outbreak
of the war:
As the task of defending India from any
military attack is of common concern to
the British government as well as our-
selves and as we are unfortunately not in
a position today to carry out that respon-
sibility unaided, there is ample room for
wholehearted co-operation between India
and England (NMML, Moonje papers,
subject files, n 51).
The preliminary condition for such co-
operation was the devolution of full pow-
ers to a central Indian government by the
British. Later on, the Hindu Mahasabha
would be less strict than the Congress on
this issue.
The committee wished for the realisation
of the militarisation of Indian society and
the Indianisation of the army. It requested
a reform of the Arms Act, along the lines
prevailing in the UK. It demanded also
that territorial forces and paramilitary
groups be strengthened, that new military
organisations be created in those prov-
inces where they did not exist before, and,
225
finally, that more Indian students be ac-
cepted in the military academies. The
Hindu Mahasabha requested the govern-
ment to increase the local production of
modern armaments so that India could
equip its army, without depending on
imports from other nations.
Soon after this resolution, the Hindu
Mahasabha started to work for the cre-
ation of a national militia. Naturally
enough, Moonje became the person in
charge. Inviting party members to attend
a preliminary meeting for the foundation
of the militia, in Pune on October 8, Moonje
described the future organisation in the
following terms:
I have the pleasure in bringing to your
notice a resolution of the Hindu Maha-
sabha for the organisation of the Hindu
Militia in the country for the purpose of
taking part in the defence of India both
from external and internal aggression,
whenever an occasion of emergency may
arise during the course of the Anglo-
German War.
... I believe that it will be quite in the fitness
of things, in view of the historic All-India
Military leadership of the Maharashtra,
that a beginning should be made in the
Maharashtra; so that the lead may be
taken up by the whole of India after-
wards (NMML, ibid, circular letter dated
September 27).
Who could be the internal aggressors if
not the Muslims?
The answer seems to be contained
in a letter from Moonje to Khaparde of
October 18:
... the Moslems are making themselves a
nuisance. The Congress government will
not stand up but will yield to them. We
cannot expect any consideration at the
hands of the Congress government. We
shall have to fight both the government
and the Moslems just as the Khaksars are
doing in the UP. The Hindu Mahasabha
will give its support to such fights as the
Muslim League is supporting the Khaksars:
you must prepare the volunteers in your
towns. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak
Sangh may be useful and handy
(NMML, ibid).
Moonje expressed in more explicit terms
his hostility to the Congress:
But there is one worry which is menac-
ingly uppermost in its mind at the present
moment and that is what will happen if,
in the mutually antagonistic and clashing
ideologies, the Charka were to come into
conflict with the Rifle ...? (NMML ibid,
circular letter).
Charka as a Gandhian symbol was a
metaphor for the Congress.
The theme of the internal enemy is a
further element of affinity between the
ideology of fascism and of Hindu nation-
226
alism, expressed by a similar rhetoric. It
seems nevertheless that the Sanghatanists
were inclined to fight the Muslims and the
Congress, rather than the British.
According to Moonjes plans, the RSS
should be involved in the creation of the
national militia. Indeed, in a letter of
October 18 to General Nanasahib Shinde
of Baroda, Moonje affirmed
I am glad to note that you have approved
of my idea of a Hindu National Militia for
Maharashtra as is being organised by the
Hindu Mahasabha.
I have been myself thinking of the
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and I am
corresponding with their leader. They may
have their peculier (sic) difficulties and
the point is that the militia should be
organised under these circumstances
whether the Rashtriya Swayamsevak
Sangh can undertake the task or not
(NMML, ibid, reply to a letter from Shinde
to Moonje, dated October 16, 1939).
During this preliminary phase, Moonje
consulted Hedgewar, with whom he ex-
changed several letters and whom Moonje
hoped to meet, in order to discuss the
participation of the RSS in the militia
(NMML, ibid, letter from B S Moonje to
Hedgewar, October 18, 1939).
On October 27 a militant from Lahore
informed Moonje that
We have at present in Punjab several Dals
and Sanghs, the total number of members
of which is approximately about 50,000;
but they are not working under a single
organisation. There are Rashtriya Sevak
Sangh, Atma Sangh, Mahabir Dal, Seva
Sangh and Akali Dal working under dif-
ferent leaders. They have a sort of military
organisation. The Akali Dal is armed with
swords: but the others have other weap-
ons. The Rashtriya Sevak Sangh has only
lathies. The first thing to do is to bring
all these sanghs on a uniform basis work-
ing under a single leadership though not
of one man but of a council (NMML, ibid).
In spite of such mobilisation, the Hindu
militia had not been formed. The govern-
ment did not withdraw the existing restric-
tions imposed on military and paramilitary
organisations and schools.
It is difficult to establish if the organis-
ations of militant Hinduism were arming
themselves against possible foreign in-
vaders, the internal enemy, or the British.
Most probably they were carefully hedg-
ing their bet, ready to take advantage of
any future development. However, it is a
fact that at a meeting with Linlithgow in
Bombay on October 9, 1939, Savarkar
adopted a decidedly conciliatory posi-
tion vis-a-vis the British. According
to Linlithgow
the situation, he [Savarkar] said, was that
His Majestys Government must now turn
Economic and Political Weekly
to the Hindus and work with their support.
After all, though we and the Hindus have
had a good deal of difficulty with one
another in the past, that was equally true
of the relations between Great Britain and
the French and, as recent events had shown,
of relations between Russia and Germany.
Our interests were now the same and we
must therefore work together. Even though
now the most moderate of men, he had
himself been in the past an adherent of a
revolutionary party, as possibly, I might
be aware. (I confirmed that I was). But
now that our interests were so closely
bound together the essential thing was for
Hinduism and Great Britain to be friends;
and the old antagonism was no longer
necessary. The Hindu Mahasabha, he went
on to say, favoured an unambiguous
undertaking of Dominion Status at the end
of the war. It was true, at the same time,
that they challenged the Congress claim
to represent anything but themselves
(India Office (IO), Mss Eur F 125/8 1939,
Letters to the Secretary of State for
India: the letter is dated October 7, but the
report of the meeting is in the postscript
on October 9).
In 1940 the Hindu Mahasabha declared
its intention to take part in the viceroys
executive council and the war office. We
should not forget that neither the Hindu
Mahasabha nor the RSS took part in the
Quit India movement. The position they
maintained in that period is clearly de-
picted by Savarkars declaration of Feb-
ruary 17, 1942, when he asserted that, if
Japan, after having approached the Indian
borders and invaded the country, had been
ready to declare the independence of India,
it would have incredibly boosted Indi-
ans imagination. The British should there-
fore give the impression that fighting beside
them meant fighting for freedom.27 It
seems, in other words, that the Hindu
Mahasabha (and probably its affiliations)
was more interested in succeeding the
British, if possible with their complicity,
rather than fighting them.
The other side of this ambiguous stand
was a blatant admiration for the European
dictators. According to a police report of
May 1942, regarding the activities of Poona
Officers Training Camp of April-May,
Dr P C Sahasrabudhe addressed the vol-
unteers on three occasions. On 4.5.42 he
announced that the Sangh followed the
principle of dictatorship. Denouncing
democratic government as an unsatis-
factory form of government, he quoted
France as a typical example and, praising
dictatorship, he pointed to Japan, Russia
and Germany. He particularly praised the
Fuehrer principle of Germany. On 21.5.42
he drew attention to the value of pro-
paganda, quoting Russia and Germany
January 22, 2000
 as examples, and again extolled the vir-
tues of the leader principle, citing
Mussolinis success as a further example
(NAI, Home Poll Dept 28/8/1942, Sum-
mary of a report on the officers Training
Camp of the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak
Sangh held in April/May 1942 at Poona,
copy in MSA, Home Special Dept, 822
IInd 1940-41).
When, in the 1940s, the totalitarian
regimes had already revealed their true
colours, the attitude of the organisations
of militant Hinduism towards fascism and
nazism was still benevolent. In spite of the
already, even if only partially, known
atrocities committed by Hitler and
Mussolini, the main organisations of Hindu
nationalism still praised the dictators and
their regimes. This position could be
justified, had it been part of a coherent and
strong anti-British policy. However, as I
have tried to demonstrate, the forces of
Hindu nationalism seem to have concen-
trated their efforts more against the so-
called internal enemies Muslims and
Congress rather than the foreign invad-
ers. While Boses alliance with the axis
powers had mainly an anti-British func-
tion, the Hindu Mahasabha used its sup-
port to the dictators as an instrument to
blackmail the British.
VI
Conclusions
The preceding discussion has shown
that: (a) the main historical organisations
and leaders of Hindu nationalism had a
distinctive and sustained interest in fas-
cism and nazism; (b) fascist ideological
influences on Hindu nationalism were
present and relevant; and (c) to a certain
extent, these influences were channelled
through direct contacts between Hindu
nationalists and members of the Italian
fascist state. No doubt, beginning with
the early 1920s, and up to the second world
war, Hindu nationalists looked at the
political reality of fascist Italy, and sub-
sequently of nazi Germany, as a source
of inspiration.
One of the results of the contacts be-
tween fascism and Hindu nationalism was
the attempt to militarise Hindu society and
to create a militant mentality among the
Hindus. If it is true that the Hindu society
elaborated its own patterns of militarisation
I refer to the shakas as a typically Indian
phenomenon it is equally true that a most
relevant result of fascist influence was the
transmission of a more functional
organisation and a stronger political char-
acter to the already existing organisations
of political Hinduism.
Economic and Political Weekly January 22, 2000
At the ideological level, the most mean-
ingful effect of the fascist influence is
represented by the way in which Hindu
nationalism developed its own concept of
diversity, transforming diverse people
into enemies. Of course, the concept of
internal enemy is already implicit con-
tained in Savarkars Hindutva. Neverthe-
less, the continuous reference to German
racial policy and the comparison of the
Jewish problem in Germany with the
Muslim question in India reveals the
evolution of the concept of internal enemy
along explicitly fascist lines.
In my opinion, if one wants to under-
stand the evolution of Hindu radicalism
in the post-independence period, one has
to take into account both the domestic
roots of this phenomenon and the external
influence on its development.
In the 1920s and 1930s fascism was an
international phenomenon. As such it was
bound to influence the ideology and prac-
tice of similar movements all over the world.
Since many of Bal Thackerays most
outraceously anti-Muslim and racist state-
ments are literal quotations of Savarkars
speeches and theories, it is legitimate to
conclude that such influence is still alive
in todays militant Hinduism. EPW
Notes
[My stay in India for collecting material for the
present paper was made a lot easier and more
profitable by Partha Sarathi Gupta. T R Sareen,
A R Kulkarni and Bhanu Kapil. While writing
this paper in Italy I was able to count on
Michelguglielmo Torris criticisms and
suggestions, which forced me to considerably
rework my first draft. I wish to warmly thank all
of them for their help and friendship. Of course,
the usual disclaim stands that I am the only one
responsible for the contents of and any error left
in this article.]
1 In the following pages I will treat the Hindu
Mahasabha and the RSS as two different
organisations, belonging to the same political
milieau. This, in spite of the attempt made
by the BJP or RSS oriented intellectuals and
scholars to deny, or at least to minimise any
reciprocal affinity between the RSS and the
Hindu Mahasabha. Speaking about a topic
which has nothing to do with the relations
between the RSS and the Hindu Mahasabha,
I will indirectly show that the two organisations
shared a specific ideological background.
2 Regarding this aspect, Jaffrelot asserts that
As distinct from Nazism, the RSSs ideology
treats society as an organism with a secular
spirit, which is implanted not so much in the
race as in a socio-cultural system ... Finally,
in contrast to both Italian fascism and Nazism
the RSS does not rely on the central figure
of the leader (op cit, pp 63-64).
3 The details mentioned in the text are in Kesari,
May 13, 1924, June 24, November 10 and 24,
1925. I will just summarise the content of
the articles, having had this material trans-
lated from Marathi by a young Indian colleague
of mine.
4 The article quotes a speech of Mussolini,
without specifying its date.
5 Regarding this aspect, see Paolo Beonio
Brocchieri and Giorgio Borsa (eds), Garibaldi,
Mazzini e il Risorgimento nel risveglio
dellAsia e dellAfrica (Garibaldi, Mazzini
and the Italian Risorgimento in the awaken-
ing of Asia and Africa), Franco Angeli,
Milan, 1984.
6 Unfortunately there is no Italian report of the
meeting, not even among the prime ministers
papers. But there are the routine papers,
recording Moonjes request for an audience,
dated March 16, 1931 and the response of the
cabinet of the minister of the external affairs,
dated March 18: Archivio Storico Ministero
degli Affari Esteri (Historical Archives
Ministry of External Affairs ASMAE), Rome,
Udienze (Audiences), 1930-33, bundle 27,
letter from the British Embassy in Rome, to
the Ministry of External Affairs, March 16,
1931 and reply from the cabinet of the minister,
n 1102, March 18, 1931. The British authorities
in Rome managed Moonjes audience.
7 It was indeed Moonje who brought up the
young Hedgewar in his own house and, later
sent him to Calcutta, officially to study at the
National Medical College, but with the secret
aim to get in touch with the revolutionary
organisations in Bengal (B V Deshpande and
S R Ramaswamy, Dr Hedgewar the Epoch-
Maker, Sahitya Sindhu, Bangalore, 1981,
pp 14-32).
8 The Mahratta, April 12, 1931, Dr B S Moonje
on Round Table Conference. Special
Interview for The Mahratta, paragraph entitled
National Militia. A report of Moonjes tour
of Europe is in M N Ghatate, Dr B S Moonje
Tour of European Countries in N G Dixit
(ed), Dharmaveer Dr B S Moonje. Com-
memoration Volume. Birth Centenary
Celebration 1872-1972, Nagpur, 1972, p 68.
9 Moonje was interested in the problem of
military education already by the end of 1920s.
He was in favour of Indianisation of the army.
In 1927 he worked at the foundation of the
Aeroclub of India, while in 1929 he was a
member of the commission for the selection
of candidates to Sandhurst Military Academy.
In the same year he founded the Rifle
Association in Nagpur (see correspondence
in NMML, Moonje papers, microfilm, Letters,
rn 7, 1926-28).
10 References to the above-mentioned activities
of the Italian consulates in Bombay are in
Giovanni Gentile Foundation, Rome, Cor-
respondence from third parties to Gentile,
f Carelli Mario, undated letter, certainly writ-
ten on June 29, 1938 and letter dated October
11, 1938.
11 The articles are in the issues of July 6, August
10 and July 27, 1939 respectively: Central
State Archives (ACS), Minculpop (Ministry
of Popular Culture), b 17 bis, f 26, Gran
Bretagna, subfile 14, R Consolato Bombay
(Royal Consulate Bombay), report n 1904/St
3, August 4, 1939, from Italian Consulate,
Bombay, to the Ministry of Popular Culture.
227
 A copy of Carellis article is in MSA, Home
Special Dept, 830 (I) 1939.
12 Di idee fasciste, ha fondato unorganizzazione
da lui chiamata Iron Guards prendendo a
modello le nostre, ma adattandole alle peculiari
condizioni dellIndia. Egli e i suoi amici
vestivano la camicia nera: le prime camicie
nere dellIndia. Lo sviluppo di questa
organizzazionee stato compromesso dallo
scoppio della guerra: ACS, Minculpop, 17
bis, cit, report n 2298/St 3, from Italian
Consulate, Bombay, October 4, 1939, to the
Ministry of Popular Culture.
13 It seems, moreover, that Hedgewar was deeply
influenced by the ideas expressed in Savarkars
Hindutva. When Hedgewar decided to found
his organisation, he went to Ratnagiri to meet
Savarkar, in order to obtain from him
suggestions and advice. Subsequently, during
Sarvarkars internment in Ratnagiri, Hedgewar
had continuously been in touch with Babarao
Savarkar. See, respectively, Deshpande-
Ramaswamy, op cit, p 65 and 74; Walter K
Andersen, Shridhar D Damle, The
Brotherhood in Saffron: The Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh and Hindu Revivalism,
Vistaar Publications, New Delhi, 1987, p 33;
Dhananjay Keer, Veer Savarkar and His Time,
Popular Prakashan, Bombay, 1988, pp 170-
71. Among Hedgewar papers, in Nagpur, I
found several letters exchanged between
Hedgewar and Babarao Savarkar, who was
closely connected to the RSS.
14 On several occasions, after having been
released, Savarkar congratulated the
Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh of Dr
Hedgewar of Nagpur on its work and
discipline. At the guru purnima celebrated
by the RSS on July 29, 1939, Savarkar gave
a speech to approximately 5,000 people, while
several years later, during the RSS officers
training camp (OTC) which took place in
Pune during May 27 to 29, 1943, in the
presence of Golwarkar, Babarao Savarkar, B
S Moonje and about 5,000 people, the former
president of the Hindu Mahasabha expressed
his pleasure to see the display by swayamsevaks
in great number and said that he was proud
to see the branches of the Sangh spread
throughout India during his visits to various
places...He was pleased to see the Hindu
youths, boys and girls, joining the institutions,
based on Hinduism, in great number.
Militants had also the habit of collecting
donations for their leader. In August 1937 in
Pune, the local Hindu militants and
sympathisers offered him Rs 250. Several
years later, on the occasion of Savarkars 61st
birthday, considerable donations were
collected by the exponents of the Hindu
organisations Savarkar visited during one of
his propaganda tours. At the above-mentioned
OTC camp, where Savarkar celebrated his
birthday, Rs 1,80,000 had been collected by
Hindu organisations, Pune municipality, and
private citizens. Respectively in MSA, Home
Special Dept, 60 D (g) Pt II, 1937, Extract
from the Bombay Secret Abstract for week
ending January 15, 1938, entitled Hindu
Affairs and Summary report of the meeting
held in the Tilak Smarak Mandir on behalf
of Poona students, August 3, 1937;
228
Maharashtra State Archives (MSA), Home
Special Dept, 60 D (g) Pt III, 1938, Extract
from the Bombay Province weekly letter No
31, dated August 5, 1939; MSA, Home Special
Department, 1009 III 1942, police report
entitled A summary report of the concluding
ceremony of the Officers Training Camp of
the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh, at Poona
on the May 27, 1943 and note from the Home
Department Special, dated June 10, 1943.
15 NMML, Savarkar papers, microfilm, rn 23,
part 2, Miscellaneous Correspondence January
1938-May 1939, Press Note issued by the
Hindu Mahasabha Office Bombay Branch,
undated A summary of Savarkars speech is
also in MSA, Bombay, Home Special
Department, 60 D (g) Pt III 1938, Extract
from the weekly confidential report of
the District Magistrate, Poona, dated the
August 11, 1938.
The Italian consul in Calcutta sent to the
ministry of external affairs in Rome an accurate
abstract of an article about Savarkars speech,
reported in Ananda Bazar Patrika of August
3. The abstract is entitled Critiche al viaggio
di Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in Europa
(Critiques of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehrus trip
to Europe), in ASMAE Affari Politici (Political
Affairs AP), India, b 7, 1938, resoconto della
stampa indiana (summary of the Indian press),
enclosure to express telegram n 3489/46, from
Italian Consulate, Calcutta, August 12, 1938,
to the ministry of external affairs.
16 Immediately after the great anti-Jewish pogrom
of November 9, 1938, known as Crystal
night, the Congress expressed its condem-
nation of the German policy with the
declaration of December 12, and subsequently
supported the concession of asylum in India
to the Jews. Regarding this matter, see Milan
Hauner, India in Axis Strategy: Germany,
Japan and Indian Nationalists in the Second
World War, Klett-Cotta Stuttgart, 1981, p 67.
17 A summary of the presidential speech is in
Bombay Chronicle of December 29, 1939.
18 Hindutva had been written clandestinely
during Savarkars detention at the Andamans,
sent to India secretly in 1917 and published
underground in 1923.
19 Savarkar, as well as most of the militants
belonging to his milieu, considered the Indian
Muslims either as successors of the Mughal
invaders, or as original Hindus who were
forcibly converted to Islam. In any case,
according to the main ideologues of political
Hinduism the pole of attraction of Indian
Muslims was outside India and Hindu system
of values. Not only was Islam a foreign
religion, which had its main institutions outside
India, but the Indian Muslims were, according
to Savarkar and his companions, more
interested in creating a separate nation, instead
of recognising India as their homeland. Apart
from the fact that this must have not been the
attitude of most of Indian Muslims, militant
Hindus had exaggerated claims towards the
Muslims. For militant Hindus it was not
sufficient that Indian Muslims considered
themselves first Indians and secondly Muslims,
as most of them probably did. According to
the Hindu fundamentalists, indeed, Muslims
should conform themselves to the Hindu
Economic and Political Weekly
system of values, which was, of course,
unacceptable.
20 An article entitled The Savarkar Method of
rejuvenation of the Hindudom: New Drive in
Hindu Thought and Action, published in The
Mahratta of January 6, 1939 repeated the
opinions already expressed by Savarkar in the
speech of December 11, 1938.
21 April 28, 1939, Why Italy Invaded Albania?,
May 26, How Germanys National Socialism
Arose? and Inciting Mussolini against Hitler,
May 19 and June 2, Germany-Rome Axis
Strengthened and German-Italian Pact
Concluded: Reaction to Encirclement Policy.
At p 51 of his book, Jaffrelot quotes some
articles in favour of Franco, Mussolini and
Hitler published by the Hindu Outlook of
November 2 and 30, 1938 and The Mahratta,
of November 6, 1939.
22 To the two letters, dated March 7 and August
11, 1938 respectively, there is a reference in
NMML, Savarkar papers, microfilm, r n 23,
letter dated May 23, 1938 from the secretary,
Hindu Mahasabha, Bombay Office to Rash
Behari Bose; unsigned letter dated August 11
to the editor of The Mahratta, Gajantrao
Ketkar; August 18 from J D Malekar, secretary
of the Hindu Mahasabha to Rash Behari Bose.
23 Copy of the press note containing the text of
the speech had been sent also to Rash Behari,
so that he would not only publish, but also
show it to the Japanese government: NMML,
Savarkar papers, rn 23, cit, letter from the
secretary of the Hindu Mahasabha to Rash
Behari Bose, November 4, 1938.
24 NMML, ibid, letter from Malekar to
Leszczynski, December 7, 1938 and reply,
December 9, 1938. At the ministry of external
affairs, in Rome, among the papers from the
cabinet of the ministry, I could find a copy
of Savarkars The Indian War of Independence
of 1857: it is not possible to establish if the
book arrived in Italy during this period, before,
or later. We are, however, allowed to suppose
that Savarkar was not totally unknown to the
Italian authorities: ASMAE, Gab 409, b3.
25 In favour of this thesis are: (1) Vikram
Savarkar, Vinayaks grandson, whom I met
in Bombay in March 1997; (2) Vishvas
Savarkar, author of a script entitled Veer
Savarkar INAs Source of Inspiration, in
Savarkar, commemoration volume published
by Savarkar Darshan Pratisthan, Bombay,
1989, pp 147-51. In the same volume:
(3) Shivramu (pseud), Savarkars Role in
The British Quitting India, pp 183-88;
(4) D Keer, op cit, p 257; (5) N B Khare,
Political Memoirs, Nagpur, 1959, p 52;
(6) U Mukherjee, op cit, pp 159-60;
(7) S V Bhalerao, Savarkar: His Socio-
Political Thought and Leadership, a PhD
thesis submitted to the Nagpur University,
faculty of social sciences, p 234-35.
26 Regarding the collaborationist attitude of the
Hindu Mahasabha and the RSS, see D R
Goyal, Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, Radha
Krishna Prakashan, New Delhi, 1979, p 86.
27 NMML, Savarkar papers, microfilm, rn 24.
Unfortunately, the photocopies of this docu-
ment have never been mailed to me by the
staff. I could only summarise from my notes,
instead of quoting the original text.
January 22, 2000